Coordinator Device for Paired or Consolidated Players

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described herein involve selecting a coordinator device for multichannel playback by a bonded zone. The bonded zone may be configured such that playback devices in the bonded zone may each be configured to render different components, such as a right channel component or a left channel component of media content being rendered in synchrony by the bonded zone. Selecting the coordinator device for the bonded zone may involve analyzing a wireless interface performance metric of a first playback device in the bonded zone, receiving a wireless interface performance metric of a second playback device in the bonded zone, comparing the wireless interface performance metrics of the two playback devices, selecting one of the two playback devices as the coordinator device, and causing the selected playback device to become the coordinator, or “primary” player of the bonded zone.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, tomethods, systems, products, features, services, and other items directedto media playback or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Digital music has become readily available due in part to thedevelopment of consumer level technology that has allowed people tolisten to digital music on a personal audio device. The consumer'sincreasing preference for digital audio has also resulted in theintegration of personal audio devices into PDAs, cellular phones, andother mobile devices. The portability of these mobile devices hasenabled people to take the music listening experience with them andoutside of the home. People have become able to consume digital music,like digital music files or even Internet radio, in the home through theuse of their computer or similar devices. Now there are many differentways to consume digital music, in addition to other digital contentincluding digital video and photos, stimulated in many ways byhigh-speed Internet access at home, mobile broadband Internet access,and the consumer's hunger for digital media.

Until recently, options for accessing and listening to digital audio inan out-loud setting were severely limited. In 2005, Sonos offered forsale its first digital audio system that enabled people to, among manyother things, access virtually unlimited sources of audio via one ormore networked connected zone players, dynamically group or ungroup zoneplayers upon command, wirelessly send the audio over a local networkamongst zone players, and play the digital audio out loud acrossmultiple zone players in synchrony. The Sonos system can be controlledby software applications running on network capable mobile devices andcomputers.

Given the insatiable appetite of consumers towards digital media, therecontinues to be a need to develop consumer technology thatrevolutionizes the way people access and consume digital media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technologymay be better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration in which certain embodiments maybe practiced;

FIG. 2A shows an illustration of an example zone player having abuilt-in amplifier and transducers;

FIG. 2B shows an illustration of an example zone player having abuilt-in amplifier and connected to external speakers;

FIG. 2C shows an illustration of an example zone player connected to anA/V receiver and speakers;

FIG. 3 shows an illustration of an example controller;

FIG. 4 shows an internal functional block diagram of an example zoneplayer;

FIG. 5 shows an internal functional block diagram of an examplecontroller;

FIG. 6 shows an example playback queue configuration for a mediaplayback system;

FIG. 7 shows an example ad-hoc playback network;

FIG. 8 shows a system including a plurality of networks including acloud-based network and at least one local playback network;

FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of an example method for selecting a groupcoordinator device in a media playback system;

FIGS. 10A-C show a first series of example group coordinatorconfigurations in a media playback system;

FIGS. 11A-C shows a second series of example group coordinatorconfigurations in a media playback system;

FIG. 12 a flow diagram of an example method for selecting a coordinatordevice for multichannel playback; and

FIGS. 13A-C shows a series of example coordinator device configurationsfor multichannel playback.

In addition, the drawings are for the purpose of illustrating exampleembodiments, but it is understood that the inventions are not limited tothe arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

Embodiments described herein involve selecting a group coordinatordevice for a group of media devices of a networked media playbacksystem, and further selecting a coordinator device for paired orconsolidated players.

In an example embodiment, a networked media playback system may includea plurality of media devices that may be grouped together to rendermedia content in synchrony. Each of the plurality of media devices maybe configured to communicate with one another. In one example, aparticular device from the plurality of media devices may be configuredto receive the media content to be rendered from a local media contentsource or a remote media content source, and distribute the mediacontent to the other media devices in the media playback system forplayback. The particular device may also be configured to coordinatesynchronous playback by the plurality of media devices by providingplayback timing information to each of the plurality of media devices.For discussions herein, the particular device may be referred to as thegroup coordinator device for the group of media devices.

The plurality of media devices may include devices in different zones ina household. For example, the plurality of media devices may beorganized into multiple zones, including a “kitchen” zone, a “diningroom” zone, and a “living room” zone, for example. In one scenario, eachof the zones may initially be rendering different audio content. At somepoint, one zone may be grouped with another zone. For instance, thekitchen zone may be grouped with the dining room zone. In such a case, amedia device that is in the dining room zone may be designated as thegroup coordinator by virtue of being in the dining room zone that thekitchen zone was added to. On the other hand, if the dining room zonewas grouped with the kitchen zone, a media device in the kitchen zonemay be designated as the group coordinator device by virtue of beingalready in the kitchen zone that the dining room zone was added to.

In some cases, however, another media device in the group may be bettersuited to be the group coordinator device than the designated groupcoordinator device. In one embodiment, the media devices in the mediaplayback system may be configured to communicate over a networkaccording to a spanning tree protocol (STP) or some variant thereof. Insuch a case, if another particular media device in the group is closerto a root of the spanning tree than the designated group coordinatordevice, then the synchronous rendering of audio content by the group ofmedia device may be more efficiently performed if the particular mediadevice is the group coordinator device rather than the designated groupcoordinator device. Accordingly, the particular media device may bebetter suited to be the group coordinator device of the group. Otherfactors, such as respective processing capabilities of each media devicein the plurality of media devices in the group, and a communicativedistance between each of the media devices in the plurality of mediadevices in the group and a source of the media content being rendered bythe group, may be also factor into whether another media device in thegroup may be better suited to be the group coordinator device than thedesignated group coordinator.

As such, in an embodiment of the present application, a media playbacksystem may be configured to select a media device out of the pluralityof media devices in the media playback system to be the groupcoordinator device of a group of media devices in the media playbacksystem based on various quantitative evaluations and analyses relatingto the media devices in the media playback system and networkconfigurations of the media playback system, including but not limitedto those mentioned above.

In some cases, two or more devices from the media playback system may bein a bonded zone of paired or consolidated players. In discussionsherein, and as will be discussed further below, a bonded zone may referto a zone of two or more playback devices configured to render mediacontent in synchrony. In some cases, the two or more playback devicesmay be configured to render different components of the media content.For instance, a first playback device in the bonded zone may play a leftchannel component of the audio content, and a second playback device inthe bonded zone may play a right channel component of the audio content,forming a stereo pair.

In this example, one of the two playback devices in the stereo pair maybe a coordinator device, or “primary” device for the pair, and may beconfigured to receive media content to be rendered, and provide to theother playback device in the pair the component of the audio content tobe rendered by the other playback device as well as playback timinginformation for synchronized playback. In some cases, the coordinatordevice for the pair may have been designated as whichever device theother playback device was added to when forming the stereo pair, similarto the designated group coordinator device discussed above.

Analogously, embodiments of the present application may involveselecting a particular media device from the media playback system asthe coordinator device for playback devices in the bonded zone.Selection of the particular media device, as with the case of selectinga group coordinator device discussed above, may be based on variousquantitative evaluations and analyses and combinations thereof relatingto the individual media devices and network configurations of the mediaplayback system.

As indicated above, the present application involves selecting acoordinator device for the bonded zone of paired players of devicesconfigured for multichannel playback. In one aspect, a method isprovided. The method involves analyzing, by a device, a wirelessinterface performance metric of a first playback device. The firstplayback device is a part of a bonded zone of paired players includingat least the first playback device and a second playback device. Thebonded zone of paired players is configured to render audio content froman audio source in synchrony. The method further involves based on acomparison between the performance metric of the playback device and awireless interface performance metric of the second playback device,configuring, by the device, the first playback device to (a) receive theaudio content from the audio source, and (b) forward at least a portionof the received audio content to the second playback device duringrendering of the audio content by the bonded zone of paired players.

In another aspect, a system is provided. The system includes a firstplayback device and a second playback device. The first playback deviceand the second playback device are devices in a bonded zone ofconsolidated players, and playback devices in the bonded zone ofconsolidated players are configured to render audio content from anaudio source in synchrony. A device in communication with the system isconfigured to analyze a wireless interface performance metric of thefirst playback device, receive a wireless interface performance metricof the second playback device, and based on a comparison between theperformance metric of the first playback device and the wirelessinterface performance metric of the second playback device, (a) receivethe audio content from the audio source, and (b) forward at least aportion of the received audio content to the second playback deviceduring rendering of the audio content by the bonded zone of consolidatedplayers.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions include analyzing a wirelessinterface performance metric of a first playback device. The firstplayback device is a part of a bonded zone comprising at least the firstplayback device and a second playback device. The bonded zone isconfigured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony.The functions further include based on a comparison between theperformance metric of the playback device and a wireless interfaceperformance metric of the second playback device, configuring the firstplayback device to (a) receive the audio content from the audio source,and (b) forward at least a portion of the received audio content to thesecond playback device during rendering of the audio content by thebonded zone.

Other embodiments, as those discussed in the following and others as canbe appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art are alsopossible.

II. Example Operating Environment

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals can refer to likeparts throughout the figures, FIG. 1 shows an example media systemconfiguration 100 in which one or more embodiments disclosed herein canbe practiced or implemented.

By way of illustration, the media system configuration 100 is associatedwith a home having multiple zones, although it should be understood thatthe home could be configured with only one zone. Additionally, one ormore zones can be added to the configuration 100 over time. Each zonemay be assigned by a user to a different room or space, such as, forexample, an office, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, dining room, familyroom, home theater room, utility or laundry room, and patio. A singlezone might also include multiple rooms or spaces if so configured. Withrespect to FIG. 1, one or more of zone players 102-124 are shown in eachrespective zone. Zone players 102-124, also referred to herein asplayback devices, multimedia units, speakers, players, and so on,provide audio, video, and/or audiovisual output. A controller 130 (e.g.,shown in the kitchen for purposes of this illustration) provides controlto the media system configuration 100. Controller 130 may be fixed to azone, or alternatively, mobile such that it can be moved about thezones. The media system configuration 100 may also include more than onecontroller 130, and additional controllers may be added to the systemover time.

The media system configuration 100 illustrates an example whole housemedia system, though it is understood that the technology describedherein is not limited to, among other things, its particular place ofapplication or to an expansive system like a whole house media system100 of FIG. 1.

a. Example Zone Players

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C show example types of zone players. Zone players200, 202, and 204 of FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, respectively, can correspondto any of the zone players 102-124 of FIG. 1, for example. In someembodiments, audio is reproduced using only a single zone player, suchas by a full-range player. In some embodiments, audio is reproducedusing two or more zone players, such as by using a combination offull-range players or a combination of full-range and specializedplayers. In some embodiments, zone players 200-204 may also be referredto as a “smart speaker,” because they contain processing capabilitiesbeyond the reproduction of audio, more of which is described below.

FIG. 2A illustrates a zone player 200 that includes sound producingequipment 208 capable of reproducing full-range sound. The sound maycome from an audio signal that is received and processed by zone player200 over a wired or wireless data network. Sound producing equipment 208includes one or more built-in amplifiers and one or more acoustictransducers (e.g., speakers). A built-in amplifier is described morebelow with respect to FIG. 4. A speaker or acoustic transducer caninclude, for example, any of a tweeter, a mid-range driver, a low-rangedriver, and a subwoofer. In some embodiments, zone player 200 can bestatically or dynamically configured to play stereophonic audio,monaural audio, or both. In some embodiments, zone player 200 may bedynamically configured to reproduce a subset of full-range sound, suchas when zone player 200 is grouped with other zone players to playstereophonic audio, monaural audio, and/or surround audio or when themedia content received by zone player 200 is less than full-range.

FIG. 2B illustrates zone player 202 that includes a built-in amplifierto power a set of detached speakers 210. A detached speaker can include,for example, any type of loudspeaker. Zone player 202 may be configuredto power one, two, or more separate loudspeakers. Zone player 202 may beconfigured to communicate an audio signal (e.g., right and left channelaudio or more channels depending on its configuration) to the detachedspeakers 210 via a wired path.

FIG. 2C illustrates zone player 204 that does not include a built-inamplifier, but is configured to communicate an audio signal, receivedover a data network, to an audio (or “audio/video”) receiver 214 withbuilt-in amplification.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, one, some, or all of thezone players 102 to 124 can retrieve audio directly from a source. Forexample, a particular zone player in a zone or zone group may beassigned to a playback queue (or “queue”). The playback queue containsinformation corresponding to zero or more audio items for playback bythe associated zone or zone group. The playback queue may be stored inmemory on a zone player or some other designated device. Each itemcontained in the playback queue may comprise a uniform resourceidentifier (URI) or some other identifier that can be used by the zoneplayer(s) to seek out and/or retrieve the audio items from theidentified audio source(s). Depending on the item, the audio sourcemight be found on the Internet (e.g., the cloud), locally from anotherdevice over the data network 128 (described further below), from thecontroller 130, stored on the zone player itself, or from an audiosource communicating directly to the zone player. In some embodiments,the zone player can reproduce the audio itself (e.g., play the audio),send the audio to another zone player for reproduction, or both wherethe audio is reproduced by the zone player as well as one or moreadditional zone players (possibly in synchrony). In some embodiments,the zone player may play a first audio content (or alternatively, maynot play the content at all), while sending a second, different audiocontent to another zone player(s) for reproduction. To the user, eachitem in a playback queue is represented on an interface of a controllerby an element such as a track name, album name, radio station name,playlist, or other some other representation. A user can populate theplayback queue with audio items of interest. The user may also modifyand clear the playback queue, if so desired.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif. presentlyoffers for sale zone players referred to as a “PLAY:5,” “PLAY:3,”“PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any other past, present,and/or future zone players can additionally or alternatively be used toimplement the zone players of example embodiments disclosed herein.Additionally, it is understood that a zone player is not limited to theparticular examples illustrated in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C or to the SONOSproduct offerings. For example, a zone player may include a wired orwireless headphone. In yet another example, a zone player might includea sound bar for television. In yet another example, a zone player mayinclude or interact with a docking station for an Apple iPod™ or similardevice.

b. Example Controllers

FIG. 3 illustrates an example wireless controller 300 in docking station302. By way of illustration, controller 300 may correspond tocontrolling device 130 of FIG. 1. Docking station 302, if provided orused, may provide power to the controller 300 and additionally maycharge a battery of controller 300. In some embodiments, controller 300may be provided with a touch screen 304 that allows a user to interactthrough touch with the controller 300, for example, to retrieve andnavigate a playlist of audio items, modify and/or clear the playbackqueue of one or more zone players, control other operations of one ormore zone players, and provide overall control of the systemconfiguration 100. In other embodiments, other input mechanisms such asvoice control may be used to interact with the controller 300. Incertain embodiments, any number of controllers can be used to controlthe system configuration 100. In some embodiments, there may be a limitset on the number of controllers that can control the systemconfiguration 100. The controllers might be wireless like wirelesscontroller 300 or wired to data network 128.

In some embodiments, if more than one controller is used in system 100of FIG. 1, each controller may be coordinated to display common content,and may all be dynamically updated to indicate changes made to thesystem 100 from a single controller. Coordination can occur, forinstance, by a controller periodically requesting a state variabledirectly or indirectly from one or more of the zone players; the statevariable may provide information about system 100, such as current zonegroup configuration, what is playing in one or more zones, volumelevels, and other items of interest. The state variable may be passedaround on data network 128 between zone players (and controllers, if sodesired) as needed or as often as programmed.

In addition, an application running on any network-enabled portabledevice, such as an iPhone™, iPad™, Android™ powered phone or tablet, orany other smart phone or network-enabled device can be used ascontroller 130. An application running on a laptop or desktop personalcomputer (PC) or Mac™ can also be used as controller 130. Suchcontrollers may connect to system 100 through an interface with datanetwork 128, a zone player, a wireless router, or using some otherconfigured connection path. Example controllers offered by Sonos, Inc.of Santa Barbara, Calif. include a “Controller 200,” “SONOS® CONTROL,”“SONOS® Controller for iPhone™,” “SONOS® Controller for iPad™,” “SONOS®Controller for Android™,” “SONOS® Controller for Mac™ or PC.”

c. Example Data Connection

Zone players 102-124 of FIG. 1 are coupled directly or indirectly to adata network, such as data network 128. Controller 130 may also becoupled directly or indirectly to data network 128 or individual zoneplayers. Data network 128 is represented by an octagon in the figure tostand out from other representative components. While data network 128is shown in a single location, it is understood that such a network isdistributed in and around system 100. Particularly, data network 128 canbe a wired network, a wireless network, or a combination of both wiredand wireless networks. In some embodiments, one or more of the zoneplayers 102-124 are wirelessly coupled to data network 128 based on aproprietary mesh network. In some embodiments, one or more of the zoneplayers are coupled to data network 128 using a centralized access pointsuch as a wired or wireless router. In some embodiments, one or more ofthe zone players 102-124 are coupled via a wire to data network 128using Ethernet or similar technology. In addition to the one or morezone players 102-124 connecting to data network 128, data network 128can further allow access to a wide area network, such as the Internet.

In some embodiments, connecting any of the zone players 102-124, or someother connecting device, to a broadband router, can create data network128. Other zone players 102-124 can then be added wired or wirelessly tothe data network 128. For example, a zone player (e.g., any of zoneplayers 102-124) can be added to the system configuration 100 by simplypressing a button on the zone player itself (or perform some otheraction), which enables a connection to be made to data network 128. Thebroadband router can be connected to an Internet Service Provider (ISP),for example. The broadband router can be used to form another datanetwork within the system configuration 100, which can be used in otherapplications (e.g., web surfing). Data network 128 can also be used inother applications, if so programmed. An example, second network mayimplement SONOSNET™ protocol, developed by SONOS, Inc. of Santa Barbara.SONOSNET™ represents a secure, AES-encrypted, peer-to-peer wireless meshnetwork. Alternatively, in certain embodiments, the data network 128 isthe same network, such as a traditional wired or wireless network, usedfor other applications in the household.

d. Example Zone Configurations

A particular zone can contain one or more zone players. For example, thefamily room of FIG. 1 contains two zone players 106 and 108, while thekitchen is shown with one zone player 102. In another example, the hometheater room contains additional zone players to play audio from a 5.1channel or greater audio source (e.g., a movie encoded with 5.1 orgreater audio channels). In some embodiments, one can position a zoneplayer in a room or space and assign the zone player to a new orexisting zone via controller 130. As such, zones may be created,combined with another zone, removed, and given a specific name (e.g.,“Kitchen”), if so desired and programmed to do so with controller 130.Moreover, in some embodiments, zone configurations may be dynamicallychanged even after being configured using controller 130 or some othermechanism.

In some embodiments, a “bonded zone” contains two or more zone players,such as the two zone players 106 and 108 in the family room whereby thetwo zone players 106 and 108 can be configured to play the same audiosource in synchrony. In one example, the two zone players 106 and 108can be paired to play two separate sounds in left and right channels,for example. In other words, the stereo effects of a sound can bereproduced or enhanced through the two zone players 106 and 108, one forthe left sound and the other for the right sound. In another example twoor more zone players can be sonically consolidated to form a single,consolidated zone player. A consolidated zone player (though made up ofmultiple, separate devices) can be configured to process and reproducesound differently than an unconsolidated zone player or zone playersthat are paired, because a consolidated zone player has additionalspeaker drivers from which sound can be passed. The consolidated zoneplayer can further be paired with a single zone player or yet anotherconsolidated zone player. Each playback device of a consolidatedplayback device can be set in a consolidated mode, for example.

In certain embodiments, paired or consolidated zone players (alsoreferred to as “bonded zone players”) can play audio in synchrony withother zone players in the same or different zones.

According to some embodiments, one can continue to do any of: group,consolidate, and pair zone players, for example, until a desiredconfiguration is complete. The actions of grouping, consolidation, andpairing are preferably performed through a control interface, such asusing controller 130, and not by physically connecting and re-connectingspeaker wire, for example, to individual, discrete speakers to createdifferent configurations. As such, certain embodiments described hereinprovide a more flexible and dynamic platform through which soundreproduction can be offered to the end-user.

e. Example Audio Sources

In some embodiments, each zone can play from the same audio source asanother zone or each zone can play from a different audio source. Forexample, someone can be grilling on the patio and listening to jazzmusic via zone player 124, while someone is preparing food in thekitchen and listening to classical music via zone player 102. Further,someone can be in the office listening to the same jazz music via zoneplayer 110 that is playing on the patio via zone player 124. In someembodiments, the jazz music played via zone players 110 and 124 isplayed in synchrony. Synchronizing playback amongst zones allows for anindividual to pass through zones while seamlessly (or substantiallyseamlessly) listening to the audio. Further, zones can be put into a“party mode” such that all associated zones will play audio insynchrony.

Sources of audio content to be played by zone players 102-124 arenumerous. In some embodiments, audio on a zone player itself may beaccessed and played. In some embodiments, audio on a controller may beaccessed via the data network 128 and played. In some embodiments, musicfrom a personal library stored on a computer or networked-attachedstorage (NAS) may be accessed via the data network 128 and played. Insome embodiments, Internet radio stations, shows, and podcasts may beaccessed via the data network 128 and played. Music or cloud servicesthat let a user stream and/or download music and audio content may beaccessed via the data network 128 and played. Further, music may beobtained from traditional sources, such as a turntable or CD player, viaa line-in connection to a zone player, for example. Audio content mayalso be accessed using a different protocol, such as Airplay™, which isa wireless technology by Apple, Inc., for example. Audio contentreceived from one or more sources can be shared amongst the zone players102 to 124 via data network 128 and/or controller 130. Theabove-disclosed sources of audio content are referred to herein asnetwork-based audio information sources. However, network-based audioinformation sources are not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the example home theater zone players 116, 118, 120are coupled to an audio information source such as a television 132. Insome examples, the television 132 is used as a source of audio for thehome theater zone players 116, 118, 120, while in other examples audioinformation from the television 132 may be shared with any of the zoneplayers 102-124 in the audio system 100.

III. Example Zone Players

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown an example block diagram of azone player 400 in accordance with an embodiment. Zone player 400includes a network interface 402, a processor 408, a memory 410, anaudio processing component 412, one or more modules 414, an audioamplifier 416, and a speaker unit 418 coupled to the audio amplifier416. FIG. 2A shows an example illustration of such a zone player. Othertypes of zone players may not include the speaker unit 418 (e.g., suchas shown in FIG. 2B) or the audio amplifier 416 (e.g., such as shown inFIG. 2C). Further, it is contemplated that the zone player 400 can beintegrated into another component. For example, the zone player 400could be constructed as part of a television, lighting, or some otherdevice for indoor or outdoor use.

In some embodiments, network interface 402 facilitates a data flowbetween zone player 400 and other devices on a data network 128. In someembodiments, in addition to getting audio from another zone player ordevice on data network 128, zone player 400 may access audio directlyfrom the audio source, such as over a wide area network or on the localnetwork. In some embodiments, the network interface 402 can furtherhandle the address part of each packet so that it gets to the rightdestination or intercepts packets destined for the zone player 400.Accordingly, in certain embodiments, each of the packets includes anInternet Protocol (IP)-based source address as well as an IP-baseddestination address.

In some embodiments, network interface 402 can include one or both of awireless interface 404 and a wired interface 406. The wireless interface404, also referred to as a radio frequency (RF) interface, providesnetwork interface functions for the zone player 400 to wirelesslycommunicate with other devices (e.g., other zone player(s), speaker(s),receiver(s), component(s) associated with the data network 128, and soon) in accordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wirelessstandard including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac,802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). Wireless interface404 may include one or more radios. To receive wireless signals and toprovide the wireless signals to the wireless interface 404 and totransmit wireless signals, the zone player 400 includes one or moreantennas 420. The wired interface 406 provides network interfacefunctions for the zone player 400 to communicate over a wire with otherdevices in accordance with a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3).In some embodiments, a zone player includes multiple wireless 404interfaces. In some embodiments, a zone player includes multiple wired406 interfaces. In some embodiments, a zone player includes both of theinterfaces 404 and 406. In some embodiments, a zone player 400 includesonly the wireless interface 404 or the wired interface 406.

In some embodiments, the processor 408 is a clock-driven electronicdevice that is configured to process input data according toinstructions stored in memory 410. The memory 410 is data storage thatcan be loaded with one or more software module(s) 414, which can beexecuted by the processor 408 to achieve certain tasks. In theillustrated embodiment, the memory 410 is a tangible machine-readablemedium storing instructions that can be executed by the processor 408.In some embodiments, a task might be for the zone player 400 to retrieveaudio data from another zone player or a device on a network (e.g.,using a uniform resource locator (URL) or some other identifier). Insome embodiments, a task may be for the zone player 400 to send audiodata to another zone player or device on a network. In some embodiments,a task may be for the zone player 400 to synchronize playback of audiowith one or more additional zone players. In some embodiments, a taskmay be to pair the zone player 400 with one or more zone players tocreate a multi-channel audio environment. Additional or alternativetasks can be achieved via the one or more software module(s) 414 and theprocessor 408.

The audio processing component 412 can include one or moredigital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing component, anaudio enhancement component or a digital signal processor, and so on. Insome embodiments, the audio processing component 412 may be part ofprocessor 408. In some embodiments, the audio that is retrieved via thenetwork interface 402 is processed and/or intentionally altered by theaudio processing component 412. Further, the audio processing component412 can produce analog audio signals. The processed analog audio signalsare then provided to the audio amplifier 416 for playback throughspeakers 418. In addition, the audio processing component 412 caninclude circuitry to process analog or digital signals as inputs to playfrom zone player 400, send to another zone player on a network, or bothplay and send to another zone player on the network. An example inputincludes a line-in connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audioline-in connection).

The audio amplifier 416 is a device(s) that amplifies audio signals to alevel for driving one or more speakers 418. The one or more speakers 418can include an individual transducer (e.g., a “driver”) or a completespeaker system that includes an enclosure including one or more drivers.A particular driver can be a subwoofer (e.g., for low frequencies), amid-range driver (e.g., for middle frequencies), and a tweeter (e.g.,for high frequencies), for example. An enclosure can be sealed orported, for example. Each transducer may be driven by its own individualamplifier.

A commercial example, presently known as the PLAY:5™, is a zone playerwith a built-in amplifier and speakers that is capable of retrievingaudio directly from the source, such as on the Internet or on the localnetwork, for example. In particular, the PLAY:5™ is a five-amp,five-driver speaker system that includes two tweeters, two mid-rangedrivers, and one woofer. When playing audio content via the PLAY:5, theleft audio data of a track is sent out of the left tweeter and leftmid-range driver, the right audio data of a track is sent out of theright tweeter and the right mid-range driver, and mono bass is sent outof the subwoofer. Further, both mid-range drivers and both tweeters havethe same equalization (or substantially the same equalization). That is,they are both sent the same frequencies but from different channels ofaudio. Audio from Internet radio stations, online music and videoservices, downloaded music, analog audio inputs, television, DVD, and soon, can be played from the PLAY:5™

IV. Example Controller

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown an example block diagram forcontroller 500, which can correspond to the controlling device 130 inFIG. 1. Controller 500 can be used to facilitate the control ofmulti-media applications, automation and others in a system. Inparticular, the controller 500 may be configured to facilitate aselection of a plurality of audio sources available on the network andenable control of one or more zone players (e.g., the zone players102-124 in FIG. 1) through a wireless or wired network interface 508.According to one embodiment, the wireless communications is based on anindustry standard (e.g., infrared, radio, wireless standards includingIEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobilecommunication standard, and so on). Further, when a particular audio isbeing accessed via the controller 500 or being played via a zone player,a picture (e.g., album art) or any other data, associated with the audioand/or audio source can be transmitted from a zone player or otherelectronic device to controller 500 for display.

Controller 500 is provided with a screen 502 and an input interface 514that allows a user to interact with the controller 500, for example, tonavigate a playlist of many multimedia items and to control operationsof one or more zone players. The screen 502 on the controller 500 can bean LCD screen, for example. The screen 500 communicates with and iscommanded by a screen driver 504 that is controlled by a microcontroller(e.g., a processor) 506. The memory 510 can be loaded with one or moreapplication modules 512 that can be executed by the microcontroller 506with or without a user input via the user interface 514 to achievecertain tasks. In some embodiments, an application module 512 isconfigured to facilitate grouping a number of selected zone players intoa zone group to facilitate synchronized playback amongst the zoneplayers in the zone group. In some embodiments, an application module512 is configured to control the audio sounds (e.g., volume) of the zoneplayers in a zone group. In operation, when the microcontroller 506executes one or more of the application modules 512, the screen driver504 generates control signals to drive the screen 502 to display anapplication specific user interface accordingly.

The controller 500 includes a network interface 508 that facilitateswired or wireless communication with a zone player. In some embodiments,the commands such as volume control and audio playback synchronizationare sent via the network interface 508. In some embodiments, a savedzone group configuration is transmitted between a zone player and acontroller via the network interface 508. The controller 500 can controlone or more zone players, such as 102-124 of FIG. 1. There can be morethan one controller for a particular system, and each controller mayshare common information with another controller, or retrieve the commoninformation from a zone player, if such a zone player storesconfiguration data (e.g., such as a state variable). Further, acontroller can be integrated into a zone player.

It should be noted that other network-enabled devices such as aniPhone™, iPad™ or any other smart phone or network-enabled device (e.g.,a networked computer such as a PC or Mac™) can also be used as acontroller to interact or control zone players in a particularenvironment. In some embodiments, a software application or upgrade canbe downloaded onto a network-enabled device to perform the functionsdescribed herein.

In certain embodiments, a user can create a zone group (also referred toas a bonded zone) including at least two zone players from thecontroller 500. The zone players in the zone group can play audio in asynchronized fashion, such that all of the zone players in the zonegroup playback an identical audio source or a list of identical audiosources in a synchronized manner such that no (or substantially no)audible delays or hiccups are to be heard. Similarly, in someembodiments, when a user increases the audio volume of the group fromthe controller 500, the signals or data of increasing the audio volumefor the group are sent to one of the zone players and causes other zoneplayers in the group to be increased together in volume.

A user via the controller 500 can group zone players into a zone groupby activating a “Link Zones” or “Add Zone” soft button, or de-grouping azone group by activating an “Unlink Zones” or “Drop Zone” button. Forexample, one mechanism for ‘joining’ zone players together for audioplayback is to link a number of zone players together to form a group.To link a number of zone players together, a user can manually link eachzone player or room one after the other. For example, assume that thereis a multi-zone system that includes the following zones: Bathroom,Bedroom, Den, Dining Room, Family Room, and Foyer. In certainembodiments, a user can link any number of the six zone players, forexample, by starting with a single zone and then manually linking eachzone to that zone.

In certain embodiments, a set of zones can be dynamically linkedtogether using a command to create a zone scene or theme (subsequent tofirst creating the zone scene). For instance, a “Morning” zone scenecommand can link the Bedroom, Office, and Kitchen zones together in oneaction. Without this single command, the user would manually andindividually link each zone. The single command may include a mouseclick, a double mouse click, a button press, a gesture, or some otherprogrammed or learned action. Other kinds of zone scenes can beprogrammed or learned by the system over time.

In certain embodiments, a zone scene can be triggered based on time(e.g., an alarm clock function). For instance, a zone scene can be setto apply at 8:00 am. The system can link appropriate zonesautomatically, set specific music to play, and then stop the music aftera defined duration and revert the zones to their prior configuration.Although any particular zone can be triggered to an “On” or “Off” statebased on time, for example, a zone scene enables any zone(s) linked tothe scene to play a predefined audio (e.g., a favorable song, apredefined playlist) at a specific time and/or for a specific duration.If, for any reason, the scheduled music failed to be played (e.g., anempty playlist, no connection to a share, failed Universal Plug and Play(UPnP), no Internet connection for an Internet Radio station, and soon), a backup buzzer can be programmed to sound. The buzzer can includea sound file that is stored in a zone player, for example.

V. Playback Queue

As discussed above, in some embodiments, a zone player may be assignedto a playback queue identifying zero or more media items for playback bythe zone player. The media items identified in a playback queue may berepresented to the user via an interface on a controller. For instance,the representation may show the user (or users if more than onecontroller is connected to the system) how the zone player is traversingthe playback queue, such as by highlighting the “now playing” item,graying out the previously played item(s), highlighting the to-be-playeditem(s), and so on.

In some embodiments, a single zone player is assigned to a playbackqueue. For example, zone player 114 in the bathroom of FIG. 1 may belinked or assigned to a “Bathroom” playback queue. In an embodiment, the“Bathroom” playback queue might have been established by the system as aresult of the user naming the zone player 114 to the bathroom. As such,contents populated and identified in the “Bathroom” playback queue canbe played via the zone player 114 (the bathroom zone).

In some embodiments, a zone or zone group is assigned to a playbackqueue. For example, zone players 106 and 108 in the family room of FIG.1 may be linked or assigned to a “Family room” playback queue. Inanother example, if family room and dining room zones were grouped, thenthe new group would be linked or assigned to a family room+dining roomplayback queue. In some embodiments, the family room+dining roomplayback queue would be established based upon the creation of thegroup. In some embodiments, upon establishment of the new group, thefamily room+dining room playback queue can automatically include thecontents of one (or both) of the playback queues associated with eitherthe family room or dining room or both. In one instance, if the userstarted with the family room and added the dining room, then thecontents of the family room playback queue would become the contents ofthe family room+dining room playback queue. In another instance, if theuser started with the family room and added the dining room, then thefamily room playback queue would be renamed to the family room+diningroom playback queue. If the new group was “ungrouped,” then the familyroom+dining room playback queue may be removed from the system and/orrenamed to one of the zones (e.g., renamed to “family room” or “diningroom”). After ungrouping, each of the family room and the dining roomwill be assigned to a separate playback queue. One or more of the zoneplayers in the zone or zone group may store in memory the associatedplayback queue.

As such, when zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped”dynamically by the user via a controller, the system will, in someembodiments, establish or remove/rename playback queues respectively, aseach zone or zone group is to be assigned to a playback queue. In otherwords, the playback queue operates as a container that can be populatedwith media items for playback by the assigned zone. In some embodiments,the media items identified in a playback queue can be manipulated (e.g.,re-arranged, added to, deleted from, and so on).

By way of illustration, FIG. 6 shows an example network 600 for mediacontent playback. As shown, the example network 600 includes examplezone players 612 and 614, example audio sources 662 and 664, and examplemedia items 620. The example media items 620 may include playlist 622,music track 624, favorite Internet radio station 626, playlists 628 and630, and album 632. In one embodiment, the zone players 612 and 614 maybe any of the zone players shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4. For instance,zone players 612 and 614 may be the zone players 106 and 108 in theFamily Room.

In one example, the example audio sources 662 and 664, and example mediaitems 620 may be partially stored on a cloud network, discussed morebelow in connection to FIG. 8. In some cases, the portions of the audiosources 662, 664, and example media items 620 may be stored locally onone or both of the zone players 612 and 614. In one embodiment, playlist622, favorite Internet radio station 626, and playlist 630 may be storedlocally, and music track 624, playlist 628, and album 632 may be storedon the cloud network.

Each of the example media items 620 may be a list of media itemsplayable by a zone player(s). In one embodiment, the example media itemsmay be a collection of links or pointers (i.e., URI) to the underlyingdata for media items that are stored elsewhere, such as the audiosources 662 and 664. In another embodiment, the media items may includepointers to media content stored on the local zone player, another zoneplayer over a local network, or a controller device connected to thelocal network.

As shown, the example network 600 may also include an example queue 602associated with the zone player 612, and an example queue 604 associatedwith the zone player 614. Queue 606 may be associated with a group, whenin existence, comprising zone players 612 and 614. Queue 606 mightcomprise a new queue or exist as a renamed version of queue 602 or 604.In some embodiments, in a group, the zone players 612 and 614 would beassigned to queue 606 and queue 602 and 604 would not be available atthat time. In some embodiments, when the group is no longer inexistence, queue 606 is no longer available. Each zone player and eachcombination of zone players in a network of zone players, such as thoseshown in FIG. 1 or that of example zone players 612, 614, and examplecombination 616, may be uniquely assigned to a corresponding playbackqueue.

A playback queue, such as playback queues 602-606, may includeidentification of media content to be played by the corresponding zoneplayer or combination of zone players. As such, media items added to theplayback queue are to be played by the corresponding zone player orcombination of zone players. The zone player may be configured to playitems in the queue according to a specific order (such as an order inwhich the items were added), in a random order, or in some other order.

The playback queue may include a combination of playlists and othermedia items added to the queue. In one embodiment, the items in playbackqueue 602 to be played by the zone player 612 may include items from theaudio sources 662, 664, or any of the media items 622-632. The playbackqueue 602 may also include items stored locally on the zone player 612,or items accessible from the zone player 614. For instance, the playbackqueue 602 may include Internet radio 626 and album 632 items from audiosource 662, and items stored on the zone player 612.

When a media item is added to the queue via an interface of acontroller, a link to the item may be added to the queue. In a case ofadding a playlist to the queue, links to the media items in the playlistmay be provided to the queue. For example, the playback queue 602 mayinclude pointers from the Internet radio 626 and album 632, pointers toitems on the audio source 662, and pointers to items on the zone player612. In another case, a link to the playlist, for example, rather than alink to the media items in the playlist may be provided to the queue,and the zone player or combination of zone players may play the mediaitems in the playlist by accessing the media items via the playlist. Forexample, the album 632 may include pointers to items stored on audiosource 662. Rather than adding links to the items on audio source 662, alink to the album 632 may be added to the playback queue 602, such thatthe zone player 612 may play the items on the audio source 662 byaccessing the items via pointers in the album 632.

In some cases, contents as they exist at a point in time within aplayback queue may be stored as a playlist, and subsequently added tothe same queue later or added to another queue. For example, contents ofthe playback queue 602, at a particular point in time, may be saved as aplaylist, stored locally on the zone player 612 and/or on the cloudnetwork. The saved playlist may then be added to playback queue 604 tobe played by zone player 614.

VI. Example Ad-Hoc Network

Particular examples are now provided in connection with FIG. 7 todescribe, for purposes of illustration, certain embodiments to provideand facilitate connection to a playback network. FIG. 7 shows that thereare three zone players 702, 704 and 706 and a controller 708 that form anetwork branch that is also referred to as an Ad-Hoc network 710. Thenetwork 710 may be wireless, wired, or a combination of wired andwireless technologies. In general, an Ad-Hoc (or “spontaneous”) networkis a local area network or other small network in which there isgenerally no one access point for all traffic. With an establishedAd-Hoc network 710, the devices 702, 704, 706 and 708 can allcommunicate with each other in a “peer-to-peer” style of communication,for example. Furthermore, devices may join and/or leave from the network710, and the network 710 will automatically reconfigure itself withoutneeding the user to reconfigure the network 710. While an Ad-Hoc networkis referenced in FIG. 7, it is understood that a playback network may bebased on a type of network that is completely or partially differentfrom an Ad-Hoc network.

Using the Ad-Hoc network 710, the devices 702, 704, 706, and 708 canshare or exchange one or more audio sources and be dynamically grouped(or ungrouped) to play the same or different audio sources. For example,the devices 702 and 704 are grouped to playback one piece of music, andat the same time, the device 706 plays back another piece of music. Inother words, the devices 702, 704, 706 and 708, as shown in FIG. 7, forma HOUSEHOLD that distributes audio and/or reproduces sound. As usedherein, the term HOUSEHOLD (provided in uppercase letters todisambiguate from the user's domicile) is used to represent a collectionof networked devices that are cooperating to provide an application orservice. An instance of a HOUSEHOLD is identified with a household 710(or household identifier), though a HOUSEHOLD may be identified with adifferent area or place.

In certain embodiments, a household identifier (HHID) is a short stringor an identifier that is computer-generated to help ensure that it isunique. Accordingly, the network 710 can be characterized by a uniqueHHID and a unique set of configuration variables or parameters, such aschannels (e.g., respective frequency bands), service set identifier(SSID) (a sequence of alphanumeric characters as a name of a wirelessnetwork), and WEP keys (wired equivalent privacy) or other securitykeys. In certain embodiments, SSID is set to be the same as HHID.

In certain embodiments, each HOUSEHOLD includes two types of networknodes: a control point (CP) and a zone player (ZP). The control pointcontrols an overall network setup process and sequencing, including anautomatic generation of required network parameters (e.g., securitykeys). In an embodiment, the CP also provides the user with a HOUSEHOLDconfiguration user interface. The CP function can be provided by acomputer running a CP application module, or by a handheld controller(e.g., the controller 308) also running a CP application module, forexample. The zone player is any other device on the network that isplaced to participate in the automatic configuration process. The ZP, asa notation used herein, includes the controller 308 or a computingdevice, for example. In some embodiments, the functionality, or certainparts of the functionality, in both the CP and the ZP are combined at asingle node (e.g., a ZP contains a CP or vice-versa).

In certain embodiments, configuration of a HOUSEHOLD involves multipleCPs and ZPs that rendezvous and establish a known configuration suchthat they can use a standard networking protocol (e.g., IP over Wired orWireless Ethernet) for communication. In an embodiment, two types ofnetworks/protocols are employed: Ethernet 802.3 and Wireless 802.11g.Interconnections between a CP and a ZP can use either of thenetworks/protocols. A device in the system as a member of a HOUSEHOLDcan connect to both networks simultaneously.

In an environment that has both networks in use, it is assumed that atleast one device in a system is connected to both as a bridging device,thus providing bridging services between wired/wireless networks forothers. The zone player 706 in FIG. 7 is shown to be connected to bothnetworks, for example. The connectivity to the network 712 is based onEthernet and/or Wireless, while the connectivity to other devices 702,704 and 708 is based on Wireless and Ethernet if so desired.

It is understood, however, that in some embodiments each zone player706, 704, 702 may access the Internet when retrieving media from thecloud (e.g., the Internet) via the bridging device. For example, zoneplayer 702 may contain a uniform resource locator (URL) that specifiesan address to a particular audio track in the cloud. Using the URL, thezone player 702 may retrieve the audio track from the cloud, andultimately play the audio out of one or more zone players.

VII. Another Example System Configuration

FIG. 8 shows a system 800 including a plurality of interconnectednetworks including a cloud-based network and at least one local playbacknetwork. A local playback network includes a plurality of playbackdevices or players, though it is understood that the playback networkmay contain only one playback device. In certain embodiments, eachplayer has an ability to retrieve its content for playback. Control andcontent retrieval can be distributed or centralized, for example. Inputcan include streaming content provider input, third party applicationinput, mobile device input, user input, and/or other playback networkinput into the cloud for local distribution and playback.

As illustrated by the example system 800 of FIG. 8, a plurality ofcontent providers 820-850 can be connected to one or more local playbacknetworks 860-870 via a cloud and/or other network 810. Using the cloud810, a multimedia audio system server 820 (e.g., Sonos™), a mobiledevice 830, a third party application 840, a content provider 850 and soon can provide multimedia content (requested or otherwise) to localplayback networks 860, 870. Within each local playback network 860, 870,a controller 862, 872 and a playback device 864, 874 can be used toplayback audio content.

VIII. Example Group Coordinator Device Selection

As discussed above, embodiments described herein involve selecting agroup coordinator device for a group of media devices of a networkedmedia playback system. FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of an example method900 for selecting a group coordinator device in a media playback system,in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. Method900 shown in FIG. 9 presents an embodiment of a method that could beused in the environments 100, 600, 700, and 800 with the systems 200,202, 204, 300, 400, and 500 for example, in communication with one ormore devices, such as those illustrated in FIGS. 2-5. Method 900 shownin FIG. 9 may be performed by a device, such as a root device in anSTP-type network configuration, a network server device, or an existinggroup coordinator device as will be defined and discussed in thefollowing discussions. Method 900 may include one or more operations,functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 902-908.Although the blocks are illustrated in sequential order, these blocksmay also be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order thanthose described herein. Also, the various blocks may be combined intofewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based uponthe desired implementations.

In addition, for the method 900 and other processes and methodsdisclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of onepossible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, eachblock may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code,which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Theprogram code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, forexample, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. Thecomputer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readablemedium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores datafor short periods of time like register memory, processor cache andRandom Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may alsoinclude non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long termstorage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks,compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computerreadable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storagesystems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. Inaddition, for the method 900 and other processes and methods disclosedherein, each block in FIG. 9 may represent circuitry that is wired toperform the specific logical functions in the process.

At block 902, the method 900 may involve establishing a group of one ormore devices in a media playback system. As discussed previously inconnection to FIG. 1, the media playback system may include a pluralityof devices each assigned to a zone in a household. In some cases, a userof the media playback device may wish to enjoy media content in morethan one zone and may combine two or more of the zones into a group(also referred to as a “zone group”). Each of the devices in the groupmay be configured to render media content in synchrony.

In one example, a first device from the one or more devices in the mediaplayback system may be a group coordinator device configured to provideaudio content data and audio content playback timing information toother devices in the group to facilitate the synchronized audio contentplayback. Accordingly, in some cases, establishing the group of one ormore devices in a playback system may involve selecting or designatingthe first device as the group coordinator of the group.

In one example, the first device may be designated as the groupcoordinator device by virtue of being a device in a zone or group thatthe other devices are being added to. For instance, as previouslydiscussed, the media playback system may include a “kitchen” zone, a“dining room” zone, and a “living room” zone. In the case the kitchenzone playback devices are being grouped with, or added to the diningroom zone, a playback device in the dining room zone may be designatedas the group coordinator. In other words, if a second device from asecond zone is being grouped with or added to a first zone with thefirst device, the first device may automatically be designated as thegroup coordinator device of the new group by virtue of being in thefirst zone that the second was added to. On the other hand, if thedining room zone was grouped with the kitchen zone, a media device inthe kitchen zone may be designated as the group coordinator device byvirtue of being already in the kitchen zone that the dining room zonewas added to.

In other embodiments, if one of the media devices in the new group iscoupled directly to a media source via a direct line to the source ordirect line to a router/modem in communication with a remote mediacontent server, the media device may be designated as the groupcoordinator device. Further, if one of the media devices in the newgroup is a root device in a STP configuration of the media playbacksystem, the media device may be designated as the group coordinatordevice. Other examples are also possible.

FIG. 10A shows an example media playback system 1000 including a router1002, and media devices 1004, 1006, 1008, and 1010. As shown, mediadevices 1006, 1008, and 1010 may be devices with built-in playbackcapabilities, while media device 1004 may be an amplifier or media dataprocessor without built-in playback capabilities. In one example, thespeakers may be coupled to the media device 1004 for playback of mediacontent. Also as shown in FIG. 10A is that the media device 1010 may bethe first device discussed above, and a zone (or “group”) 1030 may bethe first zone referenced above. Further, the media device 1008 may bethe second device discussed above, and a zone 1020 may be the secondzone referenced above.

In the configuration of the media playback system 1000 as shown, mediadevice 1004 may be coupled to the router 1002 via a direct line, mediadevice 1006 may be wirelessly coupled to the media device 1004, mediadevice 1008, and media device 1010 may be wireless coupled to the mediadevice 1008. In such a configuration, media device 1010 may receivemedia content from a remote media server via the router 1002 throughmedia devices 1004, 1006 and 1008.

FIG. 10B shows the example playback media playback system 1000subsequent to the media device 1008 being added or grouped with themedia device 1010 in the first zone 1030. As suggested above, the mediadevice 1010 may be designated as the group coordinator device for themedia playback system 1000 in this case because the first media device1010 was already in the first zone 1030 and may already have beenconfigured to receive media content to be rendered by the zone 1030.

At block 904, the method 900 may involve performing an evaluation of oneor more parameters, by a first device, associated with the one or moredevices in the media playback system. In one example, the evaluation maybe performed by the group coordinator device, which in one case may bethe first device. Performing an evaluation of one or more parameters mayinvolve retrieving the parameters from each of the one or more mediadevices in the media playback system. For instance, a message may besent, by the first device, to each of the media devices in the mediaplayback system requesting the parameters associated with eachrespective media device. In one example, the at least one or moreparameters associated with the one or more devices in the media playbacksystem and/or the evaluation of the one or more parameters associatedwith the one or more devices in the media playback system may be storedon each of the media devices in the group, or at least one of the mediadevices in the group. In some cases, the at least one or more parametersassociated with the one or more devices in the media playback systemand/or the evaluation of the one or more parameters associated with theone or more devices in the media playback system may be stored on thecurrent group coordinator device.

The one or more parameters associated with the one or more devices mayindicate a communicative role of the respective media device. Forexample, the parameters may indicate any group affiliation of a mediadevice, and further a bonded zone affiliation of the media device ifrelevant. For instance, parameters associated with the media device 1008may indicate that the media device 1008 is a part of the group 1030, asshown in FIG. 10B. The parameters may further indicate capabilities of amedia device. For instance, parameters associated with the media device1006 may indicate processing capabilities (i.e. CPU speed and RAMcapacity, internet bandwidth, etc.) and communication capabilities(Ethernet, IEEE 1394 High Speed Serial Bus, Wi-Fi, etc.) of the mediadevice 1006.

In addition, the parameters may indicate network configurationsassociated with the media device. For instance, parameters associatedwith the media device 1004 may indicate that the media device 1004 iscoupled to and in communication with the router 1002 via a direct line.In one example, the media device 1004 may be a root of an STPconfiguration of the media playback system 1000. In one case, theparameters associated with each of the media devices 1004, 1006, 1008,and 1010 may further indicate respective root paths for each of themedia devices. The root path cost of a media device may represent acomputing cost of communicating with the media device given the networkconfiguration of the media playback system 1000. The values shown in thefollowing example are meant to illustrate possible computing costs, andalternate values are possible. For example, if the media device 1004 isthe root of the STP configuration of the media playback system 1000, theroot path cost for the media device 1004 is zero. Further in thisexample, an illustrative root path cost of the media device 1006 may be20, an illustrative root path cost of the media device 1008 may be 40,and an illustrative root path cost of the media device 1010 may be 70.In other words, because communication between the media device 1010 andthe root media device 1004 involves communicating with both the mediadevice 1006 and media device 1008, the root path cost of the mediadevice 1010 may be higher than each of the media device 1006 and 1008.Analogously, the root path cost of the media device 1008 may be higherthan that of the media device 1006 and lower than that of the mediadevice 1010.

In another example, parameters associated with the media device 1006 mayindicate that the media device 1006 may be coupled to a local mediacontent server via a direct line. As such, while the media device 1006may not be the root media device of the media playback system 1000, mayhave a root path cost of zero if media content being rendered by thegroup 1030 is from the local media content server. In other words,different root path costs may exist depending on different media contentsources. Other examples are also possible, depending on differentpossible network configuration of the media playback system 1000.

Prior to performing an evaluation of one or more parameters associatedwith the one or more devices in the media playback system, adetermination may first be made, by the first device, that theevaluation of one or more parameters associated with the one or moredevices in the media playback system should be performed. One or moreevents relating to the media playback system may trigger the evaluation.In one example, the one or more events may be events associated withmodifications to a configuration of the media playback system. Forinstance, the evaluation may be triggered by an addition of a new deviceto the media playback system. In one case, parameters associated with anew device added to the media playback system may be provided orretrieved upon becoming a device in the media playback system. Inaddition, the one or more events may also include a change in groupaffiliation by a device (i.e. a device leaving or joining a group), achange in parameters of a device (i.e. a device entering power-save orsleep mode, thereby reducing communicative access to the device), achange in a role of a device in the media playback system (i.e. a devicebecoming a root device or discontinue acting as the root device in anSTP configuration), or as suggested above, a change in media contentsource (i.e. from remote media content server to local media contentserver coupled to a different media device, or vice versa).

In another example, the evaluation of the parameters may be triggeredperiodically. For instance, the media playback system may be configuredto evaluate the parameters at predetermined intervals, such as every 60minutes, for example. In a further example, evaluation of the parametersmay be triggered by a user-input indicating that the evaluation of oneor more parameters associated with the one or more devices in the mediaplayback system should be performed.

In the configuration of the media playback system 1000 as shown in FIGS.10A and 10B discussed previously, the media device 1010 may bedesignated as the group coordinator for group 1030, and may receivemedia content from a remote content server, via the router 1002, andthrough media device 1006 and 1008. Accordingly, as the groupcoordinator device for the group 1030, the first media device 1010 mayperform group coordinator device tasks, which may include receivingmedia content through the media device 1006 and the media device 1008,processing the media content, generating playback timing information,and subsequently sending at least a portion of the mediacontent/playback timing information back to the media device 1008 forsynchronized playback. As such, the media device 1008 may effectivelyreceive the media content twice, which may not be an efficientconfiguration for the media playback system 1000.

Referring back to the method 900 of FIG. 9, at block 906 may involvedetermining that a second device in the one or more devices in the mediaplayback system is to be the group coordinator device. During anevaluation of the parameters associated with the media devices 1004,1006, 1008, and 1010 of FIG. 10B, a determination may be made based onat least the root path cost associated with each of the media devices1004, 1006, 1008, and 1010 that the media device 1008 may be a moresuitable group coordinator device. For instance, as indicated above, theroot path cost of the media device 1008 may be 40, and accordingly lessthan the root path cost of the media device 1010 which may be 70.Accordingly, based on root path cost evaluations, media device 1008 maybe a more efficient group coordinator device than the media device 1010in the configuration of the media playback system 1000 as shown.

In another example, the parameters associated with the media devices1004, 1006, 1008, and 1010 may be evaluated in combination (i.e. aweighted average of the parameters). For instance, in addition to theroot path cost, computing capabilities of the media devices 1004, 1006,1008, and 1010 may also be considered, and whether the media devices aremembers of the group being evaluated. In such a case, if the mediadevice 1010 has the best computing capability among the media devices1004, 1006, 1008, and 1010, and depending on the weighing of thedifferent parameters being evaluated in this example, the media device1010 may ultimately still be determined to be the most suitable groupcoordinator device despite having a higher root path cost.

At block 908, the method 900 may involve causing the second device tobecome the group coordinator of the group of one or more devices in themedia playback system. In one case, if the media device 1010 of FIG. 10Bhas been determined to still be the most suitable group coordinatordevice, the media device 1010 may continue to perform group coordinatordevice tasks including receiving media content from the remote mediacontent server via the media device 1004, media device 1006, and mediadevice 1008, processing the media content, generating playback timinginformation, and providing at least a portion of the media content andthe playback timing information to the media device 1008 forsynchronized playback of the media content.

On the other hand, if the second device, which in this case may be themedia device 1008, was determined to be the most suitable groupcoordinator device, the media device 1008 may accordingly be configuredto perform the group coordinator device tasks of receiving media contentbeing rendered by the group 1030 from the remote media content servervia the media device 1004 and media device 1006, processing the mediacontent, generating playback timing information, and providing at leasta portion of the media content and the playback timing information tothe media device 1010 for synchronized playback of the media content.During the transition of group coordinator devices, if the at least oneor more parameters associated with the one or more devices in the mediaplayback system and/or the evaluation of the one or more parametersassociated with the one or more devices in the media playback system wasstored only on the original group coordinator device, the original groupcoordinator device, which in this case may be the media device 1010 maybe configured to provide the at least one or more parameters associatedwith the one or more devices in the media playback system and/or theevaluation of the one or more parameters associated with the one or moredevices in the media playback system to the new group coordinatordevice, which in this case may be the media device 1008.

Accordingly, the media device 1010 may stop performing the groupcoordinator device tasks. As shown in FIG. 10C, the media playbacksystem 1000 may include the group 1030 as shown in FIG. 10B, but withmedia device 1008 as the group coordinator device, rather than the mediadevice 1010.

In the case a different media device is to become the group coordinatordevice for a group, such as if the media device 1008 is to become thegroup coordinator device for the group 1030 in place of the media device1010, a suitable time interval during which the transition should takeplace may be determined. In one example, if the group is not currentlyrendering media content, the transition may occur immediately. On theother hand, if media content is currently being rendered by the group1030, the transition may be postponed until playback of the currentmedia content has been completed or otherwise stopped, and executedbefore the group 1030 begins rendering a subsequent media content. Inother words, causing the second media device 1008 to become the groupcoordinator of the group 1030 may involve, in this case, determiningthat rendering of media content by the group 1030 has stopped, andsubsequently causing the second media device 1008 to become the groupcoordinator of the group 1030.

As an additional example, FIG. 11A shows an example media playbacksystem 1100 including a router 1102, and media devices 1104, 1106, 1108,and 1110, similar to the media playback system 1000 described above inconnection to FIGS. 10A-C. In contrast to the media playback system1000, the media playback system 1100 is configured according to an STPor variant thereof such that the media device 1104 is coupled to therouter 1102 via a direct connection (such as, for example, a wiredEthernet connection). Media device 1106 is in communication with themedia device 1104 via a wireless link, while the media device 1108 is incommunication with the media device 1104 via the router 1102. As shown,the media device 1108 may be in communication with the router 1102 via awireless link. Media device 1110 is in communication with the mediadevice 1108 via a wireless link. In one example, the media device 1104may be configured as a root device in the media playback system 1100.Accordingly, for illustration purposes only, the root path costs andgroup affiliations of the media devices 1104, 1106, 1108, and 1110 maybe provided as shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Media Device Root Path Cost Group Affiliation 1104 0 — 1106 1501120 Coordinator 1108 10 — 1110 160 1120 Member

As shown in Table 1, the media device 1104, being the root device mayhave a root path cost of zero, and the media device 1106 may have a rootpath cost of 150. The media device 1108, by being directly incommunication with the router 1002 may have a root path cost of 10, andthe media device 1110 may have a root path cost of 160. In thisparticular example, the cost of communication between media devices 1104and 1106, and the cost of communication between media devices 1108 and1110 may both be 150, and accordingly, the root path cost of mediadevice 1110 may be 150 plus the root path cost of media device 1108,which is 10, resulting in a root path cost of 160.

Also as shown in FIG. 11A and Table 1, media playback system 1100 mayinclude a group 1120 of media devices 1106 and 1110 configured to rendermedia content in synchrony. In this case, media device 1106 may have agroup affiliation as shown in Table 1 of being the group coordinatordevice of the group 1120, either by default or by selection due to mediadevice 1106 having a root path cost of 150, which is less than the rootpath cost of media device 1110 of 160. The media device 1110 has a groupaffiliation of being a member of the group 1120.

As shown in FIG. 11B, media device 1104 may be added to the group 1120which already includes media device 1106 and 1110. As shown in FIG. 11Band indicated in Table 2 below, the group affiliation for the mediadevice 1104 may now be that of being a member of the group 1120. In thisexample, because no modifications were made to a network topology of themedia playback system 1100, the root path costs for each of the mediadevices 1104, 1106, 1108, and 1110 may remain the same. Upon mediadevice 1104 joining the group 1120, the media device 1106 may initiallyremain as the group coordinator device for the group 1120.

TABLE 2 Media Device Root Path Cost Group Affiliation 1104 0 1120 Member1106 150 1120 Coordinator 1108 10 — 1110 160 1120 Member

As some point, either triggered by the addition of the media device 1104to the group 1120, or another event as discussed above in connection toblock 904, evaluations of parameters associated with the media devices1104, 1106, 1108, and 1110 may be performed. Based on the evaluations, adetermination may be made based on for example, at least the root pathcosts of each of the media devices 1104, 1106, 1108, and 1110 and/orother parameters discussed above in connection to block 906 of method900 that media device 1104 should be the group coordinator device of thegroup 1120.

FIG. 11C shows a configuration of the media playback system 1110 afterwhich the media device 1104 has become the group coordinator device ofthe group 1120. As shown in Table 3 below, the group affiliation ofmedia device 1104 is now the group coordinator device of the group 1120,while the group affiliation of media device 1106 is now a member of thegroup 1120. As suggested previously, the transition of group coordinatordevice designations from media device 1106 to media device 1104 may haveoccurred during a break in media content playback by the group 1120.

TABLE 3 Media Device Root Path Cost Group Affiliation 1104 0 1120Coordinator 1106 150 1120 Member 1108 10 — 1110 160 1120 Member

While the examples provided herein may suggest that a group coordinatordevice may be selected from among media devices in the group of mediadevices, one having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that adevice in the media playback system that is not among the group of mediadevices may be selected or initially designated as the group coordinatordevice for the group. Other examples are also possible.

VIII. Example Selection of Coordinator Device for Multichannel Playback

As discussed above, embodiments described herein may further involveselecting a coordinator device for the bonded zone of playback devicesfor multichannel playback. A bonded zone may refer to, for example, azone of two or more playback devices paired or consolidated to rendermedia content in synchrony, as described above. In some cases, the twoor more playback devices may be configured to render differentcomponents of the media content. For instance, a first playback devicein the bonded zone may play a right channel component of the audiocontent, and a second playback device in the bonded zone may play a leftchannel component of the audio content, forming a stereo pair.

One of the two playback devices in the stereo pair may be a coordinatordevice for the pair, and may be configured to receive media content tobe rendered, and provide to the other playback device in the pair withthe component of the audio content to be rendered by the other playbackdevice as well as playback timing information for synchronized playback.In some cases, the coordinator device for the pair may have beendesignated as whichever device the other playback device was added towhen forming the stereo pair. While discussions of a bonded zone hereinmay generally refer to a stereo pair of playback devices, bonded zonesmay include three or more playback devices. For instance, a bonded zonemay include a center speaker and/or a subwoofer in addition to the leftand right channel speakers.

Embodiments of the present application may involve selecting aparticular device from the media playback system as the coordinatordevice for playback devices in the bonded zone. In some ways, selectionof the particular device to be the coordinator device may be similar oranalogous to the selection of the group coordinator device discussedabove, but in the context of a bonded zone rather than a zone group. Assuch, selection of a coordinator device for a bonded zone may also bebased on various quantitative evaluations and analyses and combinationsthereof relating to the individual media devices and networkconfigurations of the media playback system.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram of an example method 1200 for selecting agroup coordinator device in a media playback system, in accordance withat least some embodiments described herein. Method 1200 shown in FIG. 12presents an embodiment of a method that could be used in theenvironments 100, 600, 700, and 800 with the systems 200, 202, 204, 300,400, and 500 for example, in communication with one or more devices,such as those illustrated in FIGS. 2-5. In some cases, the method 1200may be performed for example, by a current coordinator device for thebonded zone, or by the primary player of the bonded zone. Method 1200may include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illustratedby one or more of blocks 1202-1210. Although the blocks are illustratedin sequential order, these blocks may also be performed in parallel,and/or in a different order than those described herein. Also, thevarious blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided intoadditional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desiredimplementations.

At block 1202, the method 1200 may involve analyzing, by a device, awireless interface performance metric of a first playback device in abonded zone including the first playback device and a second playbackdevice. The wireless interface performance metric of a device may be ametric indicative of a reliability of a wireless communication of thedevice. In one example, the wireless interface performance metric of thedevice may include a received signal strength indication (RSSI), inwhich a stronger received signal strength may indicate a higher wirelessinterface performance of the device. In another example, the wirelessinterface performance metric of the device may include a packet errorrate (PER), in which a lower error rate may indicate a higher wirelessinterface performance of the device. In some cases, the wirelessinterface performance metric of the device may include both the RSSI andPER. Other examples and combinations thereof may also be possible.

As previously discussed, the first playback device and the secondplayback device of the bonded zone may be configured to render audiocontent in synchrony, sometimes by rendering different components (suchas a right channel component and a left channel component) of the audiocontent. As such, prior to analyzing a wireless interface performancemetric of the first playback device, a determination may first be madethat the first playback device was added to the bonded zone, and furtherthat the first playback device is configurable to receive the audiocontent from the audio source, and forward at least a portion of thereceived audio content to the second playback device during rendering ofthe audio content by the bonded zone. In other words, selection of thecoordinator device for a bonded zone may first be triggered by anestablishment of a bonded zone, and further that at least one of theplayback devices in the established bonded zone is capable of becomingthe coordinating device, or primary device of the bonded zone.

FIG. 13A shows an example media playback system 1300 including a router1302, and media devices 1304, 1306, 1308, and 1310. As shown, mediadevice 1304 may be coupled to the router 1302 via a direct connection(such as, for example, a wired Ethernet connection), while the mediadevice 1306 may communicate wirelessly with the media device 1304, themedia device 1308 may communicate wirelessly with the media device 1306,and the media device 1310 may communicate wirelessly with the mediadevice 1308. Also shown is that media devices 1308 and 1310 may be in abonded zone 1330, as a left channel speaker and a right channel speaker,respectively. In one case, the media device 1310 and the media device1308 may be the first playback device and second playback device,respectively referenced above in connection to block 1202 of the method1200.

In this example, media device 1310 may be a coordinating device orprimary player of the bonded zone 1330, such that the media device 1310may be configured to receive audio content from an audio source, processthe audio content, generate playback timing information, and forward atleast a portion of the received audio content and the generated playbacktiming information to the second playback device during rendering of theaudio content by the bonded zone. In this example, if the coordinatingor primary media device 1310 is the right channel speaker, the at leasta portion of the received audio content provided by the media device1310 to the media device 1308 may include the left channel component ofthe audio content. In one case, the coordinating device of a bonded zonemay effectively be the audio source of the bonded zone such that each ofthe other devices in the bonded zone receives media content to berendered from the coordinating device.

Prior to analyzing the wireless interface performance metric of thefirst playback device, a determination may first be made indicating thatanalyses of one or more wireless interface performance metricsassociated with the one or more respective playback device in the bondedzone should be performed. Analogous to the triggers for evaluatingparameters of playback devices for the purposes of group coordinatorselection as discussed above, the determination that the analyses of oneor more wireless interface performance metrics may also be based on oneor more events, including an addition of a new playback device to thebonded zone (or a creation of a new bonded zone from two or moreplayback devices), a change in a network topology of the bonded zone(i.e. a root path cost of one of the two or more playback devices in thebonded zone has changed), or a change in the wireless interfaceperformance metric of a playback device in the bonded zone.

Further, analyses of the wireless interface performance metrics ofplayback devices in the bonded zone may be performed periodically, ormay be performed in response a user-input indicating that the analysesshould be performed. Further, while discussions for selecting acoordinator device for a bonded zone refers to analyses of the wirelessinterface performance metric of the playback devices in the bonded zone,other parameters such as root path costs, playback device processorcapabilities, and other factors such as those discussed in connection togroup coordinator device selections may also be analyzed ad consideredwhen selecting the coordinator device for the bonded zone.

At block 1204, the method 1200 may involve receiving, by the device, awireless interface performance metric of the second playback device inthe bonded zone. In addition to analyzing the wireless interfaceperformance metric of the first playback device (e.g., media device1310), the wireless interface performance metric of the second playbackdevice (e.g., media device 1308) may also be analyzed. In one example,the wireless interface performance metric of the media device 1308 maybe performed by the coordinator media device 1310 of the bonded zone1330. In another example, the wireless interface performance metric ofthe media device 1308 may be performed by the media device 1308 andresults of the analysis may be provided to the coordinator media device1310. Other examples are possible as well.

At block 1206, the method 1200 may involve comparing the wirelessinterface performance metric of the first playback device against thewireless interface performance metric of the second playback device. Assuggested above, if a coordinator device of the bonded zone 1330 is tobe selected based on the wireless interface performance metric ofplayback devices in the bonded zone 1330, then the wireless interfaceperformance metric of the media device 1308 should be compared againstthe wireless interface performance metric of the media device 1310, andany other playback devices in the bonded zone 1330.

At block 1208, the method 1200 may involve selecting one of the firstplayback device, and the second playback device as a coordinator device.Referring back to the media playback system 1300 of FIG. 13A, if thecomparisons made in block 1206 indicate that the wireless interfaceperformance metric of media device 1310 is higher than the wirelessinterface performance metric of the media device 1308, the media device1310 may be selected or in some cases re-selected as the coordinatordevice for the bonded zone 1330. On the other hand, if the comparisonsmade in block 1206 indicate that the wireless interface performancemetric of media device 1308 is higher than the wireless interfaceperformance metric of the media device 1310, the media device 1308 beselected as the coordinator device for the bonded zone 1330.

At block 1210, the method 1200 may involve causing the selected playbackdevice to become the primary device of the bonded zone. As indicatedpreviously, the selected playback device may be configured to receivethe audio content from the audio source, and forward at least a portionof the received audio content to the other playback devices in thebonded zone during rendering of the audio content by the bonded zone.

In the case media device 1310 is the selected playback device to becomethe primary device or coordinator device for the bonded zone 1330, mediadevice 1310 may continue to receive audio content, process the audiocontent, generate playback timing information, and providing at least aportion (in this case, the left channel audio component) of the audiocontent to media device 1308 for rendering multi-channel audio contentin synchrony.

On the other hand, if media device 1308 is the selected playback deviceto become the primary device or coordinator device for the bonded zone1330, media device 1308 may be configured to receive audio content,process the audio content, generate playback timing information, andproviding at least a portion (in this case, the right channel audiocomponent) of the audio content to media device 1310 for renderingmulti-channel audio content in synchrony.

Complimentarily, media device 1310 may be configured to stop receivingaudio content from the audio source, stop providing any audio content tomedia device 1308, and begin receiving at least a portion (in this case,the right channel component) of the audio content from media device 1308for rendering multi-channel audio content in synchrony. FIG. 13B showsthe media playback system 1300 with a bonded zone 1330 of media device1308 and 1310 configured to play the left channel audio component andright channel audio component, respectively, in synchrony.

As with the case discussed above relating to group coordination deviceselection, if the selected playback device is different from theprevious coordinator device, such as if the media device 1308 isreplacing the media device 1310 as the coordinator device of the bondedzone 1330, the transition may be configured to occur between playback ofmedia content so as not to disrupt or affect the playback of mediacontent by the bonded zone 1330. Other examples are also possible.

While the examples provided herein may suggest that a coordinator devicefor a bonded zone may be selected only from among media devices in thebonded zone, one having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that adevice in the media playback system that is not in the bonded may bealso selected as the coordinator device for the bonded zone. FIG. 13Cshows an example configuration of the media playback system 1300. Inthis configuration, the media device 1308 and the media device 1310 mayin the bonded zone 1330 and may both be in communication with mediadevice 1306. In such a case, depending on various factors as suggestedabove, the media device 1306 may be the most suitable coordinator devicefor the bonded zone 1330, while not being in the bonded zone 1330itself. Other examples are also possible.

IX. Conclusion

The descriptions above disclose various example systems, methods,apparatus, and articles of manufacture including, among othercomponents, firmware and/or software executed on hardware. However, suchexamples are merely illustrative and should not be considered aslimiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of thesefirmware, hardware, and/or software components can be embodiedexclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, exclusively infirmware, or in any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.Accordingly, while the following describes example systems, methods,apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture, the examples provided are notthe only way(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/orarticles of manufacture.

As indicated above, the present application involves selecting, by adevice, a coordinator device for the bonded zone of paired players ofdevices configured for multichannel playback. In one aspect, a method isprovided. The method involves analyzing a wireless interface performancemetric of a first playback device. The first playback device is a partof a bonded zone of paired players including at least the first playbackdevice and a second playback device. The bonded zone of paired playersis configured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony.The method further involves based on a comparison between theperformance metric of the playback device and a wireless interfaceperformance metric of the second playback device, configuring, by thedevice, the first playback device to (a) receive the audio content fromthe audio source, and (b) forward at least a portion of the receivedaudio content to the second playback device during rendering of theaudio content by the bonded zone of paired players.

In another aspect, a system is provided. The system includes a firstplayback device and a second playback device. The first playback deviceand the second playback device are devices in a bonded zone ofconsolidated players, and playback devices in the bonded zone ofconsolidated players are configured to render audio content from anaudio source in synchrony. A device in communication with the system isconfigured to analyze a wireless interface performance metric of thefirst playback device, receive a wireless interface performance metricof the second playback device, and based on a comparison between theperformance metric of the first playback device and the wirelessinterface performance metric of the second playback device, (a) receivethe audio content from the audio source, and (b) forward at least aportion of the received audio content to the second playback deviceduring rendering of the audio content by the bonded zone of consolidatedplayers.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions include analyzing a wirelessinterface performance metric of a first playback device. The firstplayback device is a part of a bonded zone comprising at least the firstplayback device and a second playback device. The bonded zone isconfigured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony.The functions further include based on a comparison between theperformance metric of the playback device and a wireless interfaceperformance metric of the second playback device, configuring the firstplayback device to (a) receive the audio content from the audio source,and (b) forward at least a portion of the received audio content to thesecond playback device during rendering of the audio content by thebonded zone.

Additionally, references herein to “embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment can be included in at least one example embodiment of theinvention. The appearances of this phrase in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of otherembodiments. As such, the embodiments described herein, explicitly andimplicitly understood by one skilled in the art, can be combined withother embodiments.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrativeenvironments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, andother symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These processdescriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it isunderstood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at leastone example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible mediumsuch as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on, storing the softwareand/or firmware.

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: analyzing, by a device, a wirelessinterface performance metric of a first playback device, wherein thefirst playback device is a part of a bonded zone of paired playbackdevices comprising at least the first playback device and a secondplayback device, and wherein the bonded zone of paired playback devicesis configured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony;and based on a comparison between the performance metric of the playbackdevice and a wireless interface performance metric of the secondplayback device, configuring, by the device, the first playback deviceto (a) receive the audio content from the audio source, and (b) forwardat least a portion of the received audio content to the second playbackdevice during rendering of the audio content by the bonded zone ofpaired playback devices.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the audiosource comprises a group coordinator device configured to provide audiocontent and audio content playback timing information to one or moreplayback devices in the bonded zone of paired playback devices.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the wireless interface performance metric ofthe first playback device is higher than the wireless interfaceperformance metric of the second playback device.
 4. The method of claim1, further comprising: determining, by the device, that the wirelessinterface performance metric of the second playback device is higherthan the wireless interface performance metric of the first playbackdevice; and configuring the first playback device to stop receiving theaudio content from the audio source
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: configuring, by the device, the first playback device toreceive at least a portion of the audio content from the second playbackdevice.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, bythe device, that the wireless interface performance metric of the secondplayback device is higher than the wireless interface performance metricof the first playback device; and configuring, by the device, the firstplayback device to stop forwarding at least a portion of the receivedaudio content to the second playback device during rendering of theaudio content by the bonded zone of paired playback devices.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the audio content from the audio sourcecomprises at least a right channel audio component and a left channelaudio component, and wherein the at least the portion of the receivedaudio content comprises one of the right channel audio component and theleft channel audio component.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thedevice and the first playback device are the same device.
 9. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: prior to analyzing a wireless interfaceperformance metric of the first playback device, determining, by thedevice, that the first playback device was added to the bonded zone ofpaired playback devices; and determining, by the device, that the firstplayback device is configurable to (a) receive the audio content fromthe audio source, and (b) forward at least a portion of the receivedaudio content to the second playback device during rendering of theaudio content by the bonded zone of paired playback devices.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: analyzing, by the device, thewireless interface performance metric of the second playback device. 11.The method of claim 1, further comprising: prior to analyzing a wirelessinterface performance metric of the first playback device, determining,by the device, that analyses of one or more wireless interfaceperformance metrics associated with each of the one or more playbackdevices in the bonded zone of paired playback devices are to beperformed.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining that analysesof one or more wireless interface performance metrics associated withone or more respective playback device parameters associated with theone or more devices in the bonded zone of paired playback devices are tobe performed comprises one or more of the following: (a) determining, bythe device, that a new device has been added to the bonded zone ofpaired playback devices; (b) determining, by the device, that a networktopology of the bonded zone of paired playback devices has changed; (c)determining, by the device, that a time duration between automaticanalyses of the one or more wireless interface performance metricsassociated with the one or more respective playback devices in thebonded zone of paired playback devices has lapsed; (d) determining, bythe device, that one of the one or more wireless interface performancemetrics associated with the one or more respective playback devices inthe bonded zone of paired playback devices has changed; and (e)receiving, by the device, user-input indicating that the analyses of oneor more wireless interface performance metrics associated with one ormore respective playback device parameters associated with the one ormore devices in the bonded zone of paired playback devices are to beperformed.
 13. A system comprising: a first playback device; and asecond playback device, wherein the first playback device and the secondplayback device are devices in a bonded zone of consolidated players,wherein playback devices in the bonded zone of consolidated players areconfigured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony;and wherein a device in communication with the system is configured to:analyze a wireless interface performance metric of the first playbackdevice; receive a wireless interface performance metric of the secondplayback device; and based on a comparison between the performancemetric of the first playback device and the wireless interfaceperformance metric of the second playback device, (a) receive the audiocontent from the audio source, and (b) forward at least a portion of thereceived audio content to the second playback device during rendering ofthe audio content by the bonded zone of consolidated players.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the audio source comprises a groupcoordinator device configured to provide audio content and audio contentplayback timing information to one or more playback devices in thebonded zone of consolidated players.
 15. The system of claim 13, whereinthe wireless interface performance metric of the first playback deviceis higher than the wireless interface performance metric of the secondplayback device.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the device isfurther configured to: determine that the wireless interface performancemetric of the second playback device is higher than the wirelessinterface performance metric of the first playback device; and stopforwarding at least a portion of the received audio content to thesecond playback device during rendering of the audio content by thebonded zone of consolidated players.
 17. A non-transitory computerreadable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by acomputing device to cause the computing device to perform functionscomprising: analyzing a wireless interface performance metric of a firstplayback device, wherein the first playback device is a part of a bondedzone comprising at least the first playback device and a second playbackdevice, and wherein the bonded zone is configured to render audiocontent from an audio source in synchrony; and based on a comparisonbetween the performance metric of the playback device and a wirelessinterface performance metric of the second playback device, configuringthe first playback device to (a) receive the audio content from theaudio source, and (b) forward at least a portion of the received audiocontent to the second playback device during rendering of the audiocontent by the bonded zone.
 18. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 17, wherein the audio content from the audio sourcecomprises at least a right channel audio component and a left channelaudio component, and wherein the at least the portion of the receivedaudio content comprises one of the right channel audio component and theleft channel audio component.
 19. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 17, wherein the functions further comprise: prior toanalyzing a wireless interface performance metric of the first playbackdevice, determining, by the computing device that analyses of one ormore wireless interface performance metrics associated with each of theone or more playback devices in the bonded zone are to be performed. 20.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein thefunctions further comprise: analyzing, by the computing device, thewireless interface performance metric of the second playback device.